The Atlanta Braves have featured many talented pitchers over the years. That’s to be expected with a franchise with a history as vast as the Braves.
There are a few names fans think of when you ask them who their favorite Braves pitchers are. Smoltz, Glavine, Maddux, Niekro, and Spahn are a few of the first names mentioned.
John Smoltz is a great answer as he was both an excellent starter and closer for Atlanta. It’s hard to top being a premier starter and closer in Major League Baseball. However, there’s another closer that comes to mind as a fan-favorite and he’s on the cusp of hopefully becoming a Hall of Famer.
Legendary closer Billy Wagner signs with Braves to begin his MLB swan song
On December 1st, 2009, the Atlanta Braves signed reliever Billy Wagner to a one-year, $7 million contract. The talented left-handed closer spent most of his career with the Astros from 1995-2003 where he was named an All-Star three times.
He then joined the Phillies for two seasons (2004, 2005), the Mets for four seasons (2006-2009), and was traded from New York to Boston during the 2009 season. This is where Atlanta decided it was their turn to land the then-six-time All-Star reliever.
Wagner entered the season at age 38 so fans would have been fine with the Virginia native putting up a 3+ ERA season. However, that is not what happened as he turned in one of the best seasons of his career.
The southpaw provided Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox with 37 saves while posting a 1.43 ERA. Wagner recorded 104 strikeouts with 22 walks in 69.1 innings which is absolutely incredible.
He earned his seventh All-Star selection thanks to an incredible first half of the 2010 season. Billy the Kid had a 1.21 ERA over 37.1 innings with 12 walks and 56 strikeouts. It looked like he still had gas left in the tank. However, Wagner retired on the highest of notes at the end of the season with 422 career saves under his belt.
He was the perfect mentor for a young Craig Kimbrel who would eventually take over closing duties in 2011 and was eventually named NL Rookie of the Year.
It’s perplexing that Billy Wagner is not in the Hall of Fame yet. He was one of the most dominant closers ever. The flamethrower had the aforementioned 422 saves in his 16-year career along with 1,196 strikeouts, a 2.31 career ERA. the 1999 NL Reliever of the Year, and he helped lead his teams to the postseason seven times.
According to MLB.com’s David Adler, “Wagner’s career ERA was 2.31. His career ERA+ was 187 — that means he was 87% better than a league-average pitcher. Of all pitchers in the Live Ball Era — not just relievers — only (Mariano) Rivera, the greatest closer in history, was better than Wagner in those categories. Mo had a 2.21 ERA and 205 ERA+.”
Billy Wagner was truly one of the best and 2025 is his final year of eligibility on the HOF ballot. He is so close to passing the threshold. Wagner received 73.8% of the 75% of votes required to reach Cooperstown in 2024. It feels like he’s destined to make it in during the next round of voting.
